In response to Vadim’s blog about Air Canada overbooking, I completely agree that overbooking ruins Air Canada’s reputation and negatively affects customers’ trust and loyalty to Air Canada. However, I believe that it is not just a matter of reputation. Since Air Canada does not sell a tangible product, and what it actually sells are the services of providing flights, unsatisfied and let-down customers are a huge concern. This is not like a non environmentally-friendly company that produces too much toxic chemicals and substances and has a bad image while providing high quality products, Air Canada – by letting down customers who have booked flights – is not providing high quality services anymore!

Although overbooking might prove profitable in the short run, it definitely won’t in the long-run, as costs incurred from unsatisfied customers will be very high. Air Canada should thus work on eliminating this policy as soon as possible, to re-establish its position in consumers’ minds.